Tag: Governors Water Conference

The fifth statewide “Governor’s Conference on the Future of Water in Kansas” was held on November 8-9, 2017 in Manhattan, Kansas. The conference was highly successful with 691 people registered and attending. Attending the conference was the Governor of Kansas, Sam Brownback, and several state and national senators and representatives. The governor fully supports this conference and has expressed his concern about the issue of preserving and protecting the future viability of water in Kansas. The conference also included 35 volunteer scientific and four invited presentations, which were presented in plenary and concurrent sessions. Conference participants also had opportunities to attend four panel discussions. In the scientific poster session, there were eight faculty/staff/professional scientific posters and 33 student posters presented. A student poster award program (for both graduate and undergraduate posters) was conducted to encourage student participation.

We are deep into the harvest season and winter is approaching. The changing season signals a busy time for KCARE: we are launching number of new projects, submitting reports, and there are many upcoming meetings and conferences. To keep yourself up-to-date, I invite you to follow KCARE’s new Twitter page, @KStateKCARE. Please send us your news and events so we can get your information out to our followers!

I want to particularly remind everyone about two upcoming events. The Governor’s Water Conference will be held in Manhattan on November 8-9. This years’ program looks outstanding, and I suggest registering as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Prior to the Governor’s Conference, on November 6-7, K-State will host a project meeting NIFA Ogallala Water CAP project meeting. Irrigation and water research and extension faculty from K-State and eight other universities will take part in the discussion about irrigation and water research. I am looking forward to seeing our results from 2017 and making plans for next year’s research and extension activities.

The sixth annual Governor’s Conference on the Future of Water in Kansas will be held November 8-9 at the Hilton Garden Inn and Conference Center in Manhattan, Kansas. The conference brings together scientists, water managers, state and federal officials and legislators, city and county administrators, environmental organizations, irrigators and citizens who share an interest in Kansas water resources.

Events for the conference include special speakers, a photo contest and poster session. The Water Legacy and Be the Vision award recipients also will be presented. Breakout sessions will cover a variety of subjects: in addition to a session about emergency response efforts in Kansas, panelists from other states will discuss how agricultural and municipal stakeholders partner to benefit and improve water supply. Other sessions will feature federal and state leaders’ updates on the Farm Bill, and Israeli officials will provide updates in another breakout session on their successes and challenges going from drought to surplus water supply.

Keynote speakers on day one include Jim Guilliford, EPA Region 7 Administrator, and Michael Teague, Oklahoma Secretary of Energy and the Environment.

Sponsors for the event include over 40 different businesses, associations, and agencies from across Kansas. Registration has sold out for day two of the conference, but interested attendees can contact the Kansas Water Office to be placed on a waiting list. Registration for day one is still open.